Where The Newspaper Stands

September 26, 2003

GOP soap opera

Feds need to dig until they get to the bottom

The Virginia Republican Party eavesdropping scandal (the word amply fits now) might have been written off as petty criminality, an excess by party operatives too enthused by the dark joys of political competition.

Not any longer.

The latest revelations -- in a dispiritingly long series of "latest revelations" -- have moved this matter beyond the arena of party politics. It now touches upon Republican officeholders, current and former.

Let us take you back to yesteryear -- March 22, 2002, to be specific -- when then-GOP executive director Edmund A. Matricardi III illegally dialed into a conference call set up by Democratic Party officials, legislators and the governor to discuss strategy for the pending fight over redistricting.

Matricardi transcribed the conversation, delighted no doubt by having access to a candid political discussion among members of the opposing side. Better than being a fly on the wall.

He wasn't the only one delighted, Matricardi now says. When he went to distribute the purloined conversation -- another crime -- eager hands reached out, including then-House Speaker S. Vance Wilkins Jr. of Amherst, who, Matricardi says, knew about his efforts and thoroughly approved.

Matricardi detailed all this during an appearance before a panel of judges in Richmond regarding the fate of his law license.

Matricardi also told the judges that his employer at the time, now-resigned Republican Party chairman Gary R. Thomson, knew in advance of the eavesdropping and was thumbs up all the way.

Denials all around. Thomson, through his lawyer, says it wasn't that way. My goodness, no. Wilkins, contacted by The Washington Post, said he had nothing to do with the eavesdropping. Pure as the driven snow.

Matricardi portrays the role of the Attorney General's Office in this matter differently, as well. He says he brought Anne Petera, director of administration for Attorney General Jerry W. Kilgore, into the circle after the first conference call and received assurances the eavesdropping was legal.

More denials. The line out of the A.G.'s office continues to be that they were virtually traumatized by Matricardi's eavesdropping and, when informed of it, ran in a righteous panic to the nearest constable. Kilgore's handlers have even tried to hold the attorney general as a paragon of virtue for not digging into the transcript.

Well, maybe that's the way it really was. Maybe Matricardi was just the lone apparatchik who ended up with a lot of transcripts and nobody in the Republican hierarchy had one whit of interest in discovering what the opposition was planning.

And maybe it's just as well that Matricardi, who back in April pleaded guilty to a felony, should settle with society for his transgressions.

Or maybe it was a little different than that. Matricardi actually listened in on two Democratic Party conference calls. Maybe after the first one, he couldn't resist telling his party chums, including the elected variety, that he managed to pull off something of a coup.

And maybe by the time the second call rolled around, lots and lots of Republicans -- big fry and small -- knew exactly what was up and thought this was just the best fun ever.

And maybe then someone (someone who didn't sleep through law school) suddenly recalled some lines in the federal code about wiretapping and eavesdropping and, yikes!

And maybe it was quickly concluded, for the good of the Grand Old Party, our boy Matricardi would have to take the fall and thereby shield his elders from public opprobrium.

One can only conjecture. Let's fix that.

At this point, after 18 months of trickling, damaging revelations, it's worth finding out for sure.

It's time for federal prosecutors to put some more people under oath and discover the full roster of participation. Let's get more facts on the table.

Helping out

Daily Press collecting for disaster relief fund

A disaster elicits an odd mixture of responses: It's every-man-for-himself, and it's all-for-one. It's the me-first focus that makes some people let their generators rumble all night. But it's also the spirit of sharing and helping found in every corner of Hampton Roads, as neighborhoods band together to share meals, as strangers armed with chain saws just appear to help clear roads, and churches open their doors to offer hot meals.

As the lights slowly come back on and the debris is carted off, Isabel is leaving some damage that will be harder to repair. For individuals and families who live close to the edge -- and many do -- all it will take is one of Isabel's legacies to push them into the hole: a few days out of work, the loss of a food supply or an entire home full of possessions, the extended cost of a motel room when home is uninhabitable.

Federal assistance and insurance will address some needs. The Red Cross tries, but its disaster relief fund has been wiped out. And there are still many, many unmet needs and many, many people whose lives are profoundly disrupted by Isabel.

To help meet those needs, the newspaper has established the Daily Press Disaster Relief Fund. For each dollar donated to the fund, the McCormick Tribune Foundation will match 50 cents, up to the first $500,000 collected. The Daily Press and foundation will pick up all administrative costs, so every dollar collected will go straight to work in the community.

The donations will be distributed to non-profit agencies that are providing direct support to people within our readership area who have been hardest hit by the hurricane.

Donations will be accepted through Oct. 10. Please give generously -- from Surry to Guinea, James City County to Hampton, there are neighbors in need.